1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a waffle maker, more particularly to a waffle maker that permits electronic control of the cooking temperature.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional waffle maker has a pair of waffle grids that are configured to confine a cooking space when closed together. Each of the waffle grids is associated with a respective electric heater. As such, when electric power is supplied to the electric heaters of the waffle grids, batter in the cooking space will be heated to a predetermined cooking temperature, thereby making a waffle.
In the conventional waffle maker, a thermostat is employed to control the supply of electric power to the electric heaters. The thermostat is usually a bimetallic strip with different temperature expansion coefficients, and is capable of making and breaking electrical connection to control the cooking temperature to within a predetermined range, such as 140xc2x110xc2x0 C. Particularly, when the bimetallic thermostat is in use, full power (e.g. 1000 watts) is continuously supplied to the electric heaters until the cooking temperature rises to the predetermined value. The waffle is cooked and is ready for consumption at this time.
A main drawback of the aforesaid conventional waffle maker that utilizes the bimetallic thermostat for temperature control resides in that the crispness of the waffles made thereby cannot be varied as desired by the consumer.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a waffle maker that permits electronic control of the cooking temperature so as to overcome the aforesaid drawback of the prior art.
According to the present invention, a waffle maker comprises upper and lower waffle grids, an electric heater unit, and a temperature control circuit.
The upper and lower waffle grids are coupled to each other and are configured to confine a cooking space when closed together. The cooking space is adapted to receive batter therein.
The electric heater unit is associated with the waffle grids and is operable so as to heat and cook the batter in the cooking space for making a waffle.
The temperature control circuit is connected to the electric heater unit for controlling heating operation of the same. The temperature control circuit includes a heater controller, a sensor unit, a user input unit and a processor unit. The heater controller is connected to the electric heater unit and is adapted to be connected to a power supply. The heater controller is operable so as control supply of electric power to the electric heater unit. The sensor unit is adapted to detect cooking temperature in the cooking space and to generate a sensor output corresponding to the cooking temperature detected thereby. The user input unit is operable so as to provide a cooking temperature setting. The processor unit is connected to the heater controller, the sensor unit and the user input unit. The processor unit controls operation of the heater controller in accordance with the sensor output from the sensor unit and the cooking temperature setting from the user input unit.